Flower making machine



Sept. 27, 1949. H. E. ADAMS FLOWER MAKING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledMarch 13, 1946 IN VEN TOR. lyai'l'i'igmwg Sept. 27, 1949. H. E. ADAMS2,482,823

- FLOWER MAKING MACHINE Filed March 15, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 110 10 a 5fi I 26% ATTD RN EYS Sept. 27, 1949. H. E. ADAMS FLOWER MAKING MACHINE 5Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 15, 1946 f m M J INVENTOR. fiaivzeifiwdar/zsg Sept. 27, 1949. H, ADAMS FLOWER MAKING MACHINE File dMarch 13, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 ,343 I V TOR I flwwi 1 AITD R N EYSSept. 27, 19.49. H. E. ADAMS FLOWER MAKING MACHINE 5 Sheets- Sheet 5Filed March 13, 1946 INVENTOR. v

m myrwfa ATTD RN EYE Patented Sept. 27, 1949 UNITED STATES FATENT OFFICEI FLOWER MAKING MACHINE Harriet E. Adams, San Antonio, Tex. ApplicationMarch-fi, 1946, Serial No. 654,026

1 The invention relates to an automatic electric motor powered machinefor cutting, die stamping or painting the different parts of artificialbluebonnet flowers on paper and cloth or the like.

An object of the invention is to prepare the difierent parts necessaryto make the complete flower economically, with greater precision anduniformity than'if the flowers were made by hand. 4

In carrying out the invention, a mechanism is provided which will cutfrom a blank of suitable fabric the various parts necessary to completethe artificial flower and at the same time engrave and print on suchparts coloring simulating the real flower. r

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, the inventionconsists 'ofthe novel details of construction, arrangement andcombination of parts more fully hereinafter described, claimed andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an end'view of an embodiment of the invention on the line l'l' of Figure 2looking in the direction of the arrows; i

1 Claim. (01. 41-2) :provided on the ends thereof with gears 52'.

Figure 2 is a sectional and partly broken view thereof; Figure 3 is asectional view on the line 33 of Figure2;

Figure 4' is a'sectional view on-the line 4--4 of Figure 1; a Y

Figure 5 is a View of the circumference of'one of the rollers spreadout;

Figure 6 is the same of the other roller;

Figure 7 is a detailed fragmentary view of the rollers; V

Figure 3 is a detailed fragmentary sectional view'of the upper roller;

Figure 9 is a detailed fragmentary sectional view of the lower roller;

Figure 10 is a view of the petal as cut, folded and engraved byco-action with the upper roller;

Figure 11 isthe same for another design onthe same roller; I

Figure 12 is the design to be used on the roller for cutting andengraving the smaller leaves of to affix the wireinsert to theflowerparts;

Figure 16 is a view of the. leaf with the wire insert in position? 2adapted to be used 'to cut the seed pods'of. the flower;

' Figure 18 is a fragmentary sectional view of the seed pod cuttingrollers in operation;

Figure. 19 is a view of the completed seed pod; Figure 20 is afragmentary view of the hood square cutting roller;

iFigureZl is a view of the hood cut thereby;

Figure 22 is a fragmentary view of the bud square cutting roller;

Figure 23 is a view of the bud cut thereby; Figure 24 is a fragmentaryview of a strip cutting roller;

Figure 25 is'the same for a different width; Figure 26 is a view of thestrip cut thereby; Figure 2'7 is aview showing the strip having adhesiveon one sideand coloring on the other;

Figure 23 is aview of the calyx for the flower;

. Figure29 is a view of the stamen, and

Figure 30 is a view of the bud stem.

Referring more indetail to the drawings, the machine comprisessuperposed rollers and 42 which are mounted onshafts M and 4Brespectively. The shaft 46 is journaled in the standards 48 and 50 forrotary'motion thereof and is The shaft 44 is journaled in bearings54which are slidably mounted inthe vertical slots '56 formedin the upperends of the standards and 50. The bearings 54 areprovided withdiametrically opposed ribs '58 which are adapted to be re- "ceived inthe vertical slots 60 on the inner side of the forked ends 62 and 64 ofthe standards.

The upper faces of the bearings 54 are provided with upstanding lugs 66which are adapted to be inserted in the lower end of the pressure:springs 68. i

Pressure plates la havingribs 12 in co-action with the slots 60 havedepending lugs M for inser- 7 all are'adapted to engage'plates "Hi andthereby Figure 1? isa fragmentar y view of the roller adjust thepressure between the engaging rollers Wand. v

A guard82 is secured to the standards by bolts 8 and is provided with aslot 35 having an out- -wardly flared flange 88 through which thematerial A to be used is inserted.

-,As here illustrated, the material for making the flowers is; to be fedto the die manually but it is to be understood-that a suitable automaticfeed device may be attached to the machine if and when desired, or otherchanges made.

r A die table should be arranged with-the machine so that the operatorwill be able to perform his or her duties in perfect safety and withoutdanger of injury while operating the machine without injury from therotating cutters and the reciprocating die and if the machine is madeentirely automatic it will require very little attention on the part ofthe operator.

Shaft 44 is provided on the ends thereof with gear 9% which is adaptedto mesh with gear 52 whereby the rollers rotate in unison in oppositedirections and power can be supplied to these rollers by anyconventional type of gear arrangement connecting an electric motor.

The following is a description of the various patterns of blue bonnetflowers which are adapted to be cut and engraved by the above describedmachine: a

In Figures 5, 6 and 7 the roller Surfaces 9| and 93 are shown which willcut the petals 2 and 8'4 shown in Figures 10 and 11. In this instance,the upper roller 'ilil is provided with cutting knives 96 of the desiredshape which surround the cavity 88 which is adapteditoholn the coloringmaterial for the petals and a vertical creasing rib m extends betwen thetop and bottom of the knives and size. .Acavi'ty ill? formed within theoutline of the grooves I 95 also co-acts with cavity 98 to color theopposite side of "the material being used.

All blue bonnet petals have :a "shallow crease extending through thecenter of'the petal from end to end and in order to imi tate the naturalflower, the groove ll 0 bisects the grooves Hit and coacting with therib its forms the crease I I' z in the petals 92 and el as shown.

In attaching the petal to the hood I25 to "be later described the back"end or sharp end of the petal is held by the right hand and the f-rontend of the petal'v r i ththe left hand and-'fol'd the crease I I2through the center of the petal made by the machine by bringing thecrease together and pressing together lightly through the entire lengthof the petal to confirm the petal crease, now twist the sharp end orback end of the petal until the painted part has been twisted at theback of the petal and the unpainted part back of the petal center thenby stopping here every flower is made the same size. Then take the hoodin the left hand and the petal in the right hand and holding the petalabout midway between the ends and exactly over the crease in the petalbring the crease together and hold on to it keeping the top side of thepetal upward. Place the twisted end of the petal on the wire stem thehood and with the center 'fron't ol the exactly even with the crease orgroove in the petal and. wrap the petal to the hood. The flowers are nowready to be tinted or retouched and suspended around the rims of trays,bowls, etc for drying. After the flowers are dry, wrap each flower stemand make them into sprays by wrapping them onto the bud stem. Theflowers are formed into a spray using four flowers in the top view, sixin the second row and about seven flowers in the last row more or-le'ss.

The roller 91 is likewise provided with knives HI which are similar inshape to knives 98 but in this instance the cavity H6 is provided at itsmedial portion with the opening I I6, which is provided at its marginaledge with cavities I28 which holds coloring and is adjusted to form themarkings I22 on the petal 94 as in the case of the knives 9B, the ribI24 bisects the cavity H6 and opening I I8 and co-acts with the grooveIIll on the roller 93 to form the crease H2, thus the rollers co-actingwith each other will cut and color two types of petals at the sameoperation.

The knives are formed with razor edges to cut clear neat designs andpressure between the rollers is obtained as previously described.

For cutting the hood or crown I25 shown in Figure 21, the design ofroller surface I26 as shown Figurefil) is used. In this instance,vertical and .hor-i-mn-tal lkHiVES I28 and E30 are employed and ribs I32bisect the squares I34 formed by the vertical and horizontal knives.

The roller co-acting "with this roller is provided with similarconfiguration and the ribs 132 form the crease --I3'6'1in the hood forfolding ,purposes.

To attach thc'liood to the wire stem and the hood'is lolded on the biason the crease J36. Zloid ith e wirewem with. 'thestamenattachedin theleft hand and the folded hood-square the right hanthp'laoe the hood'squareevenly over the wire stem and stamen with corners even so thatthe center-back or middle corner of the hoodsquare rests on the wirestem, the front edges 'of the hood square evenly together :inclo'siirgthe and wrap the hood square to the wire stem securely using suitablethread or fine wire and the like, and forming a hood or crown.

In this instance, the cavities 134 formed in the squares I34 ihol'dcolortn'g for the :hood which 'correspondsto the-colors for the petals.

forming the leaf pat-tern Mt shown in Figure 13., the design of rollersurface I42 shown in Figure 12 is used. Each lea f design is outlinedwith knives 1'44 and cavities .1 46 therein are prowith configurationsor vein-s "I48 to im art the proper color and llle like -marklngs on thepattern I413 :a'srs'hown.

When the leaf patterns I40 are cut, the material used has iad'hesive 14dasap-lied tothe lreraa' surface as shown in Figure 27, thereforawhen theleaf patterns are cut, two pieces of material are fed simultaneouslythrough the rollers and the sheets will adhere to each other forming thecompleted leaf pattern. A suitable ad l ie's'ive which will not hetaeky.yet will properly adhere will be used.

To attach the stems I50 to the leaf patterns 44!] the rollerrdesignilmlshovzn-in'rigure misused.

Grooves I54 bisect the leaf designs 45B thereon and the wire 45sinserted the grooves 154 is retained between the layers cistern rompingmaterial. Cutters 4W0 formed at the medial portion of the leaf designsout the wire ['58 so that the Wire can :be withdrawn and term the stemas shown in Figure 16. The leaf designs 45B are'ou tlined with lznives11-62 and thecavities 1154 are provideo with configurations or veins 166to imitate the natural flower when the coloring retained in the cavitiesIE4 is applied lie the material. The

stem portions was of the leaf designs I56 are so shaped that thematerialencircles the wire 158 as shown at I10 in Figure 16. The rollers 469 andTH on shafts 4'13 and H5 "CO-25Gb as shown in Figure 15 and "the lowerroller is provided with a groove "I1 2 that co-acts with-the-cu'tterI'Bli to provide shearing action for the wire.

The design the roller surface I'M in mosses Figure 22 isadapted to formthe'bud square 116 shown in Figure 23, vertical and parallel knives 1I18 and I80 are employed and vertical ribs I82 1 and angle bisectingribs I 84 and I 86 are formed in the squares I88 formed by the verticaland parallel'knives-IIS and I80. Coloring is retained in the cavitiesI90 to color the material as desired.

' To make the. buds fold the square three times on the creases formedtherein. After the squares havebeen folded take the square in the lefthand i and with the right hand bring all four corners 'of the raw edgeof the square raw' edge together to form the bud and pinch or twist itso as to hold'it together to represent buds andrepeat until as' manybuds have been made as together and crush the The roller co-acting withthe roller I14 is pro- 'vided with similar configurations and the ribspreviouslydescribed form the creases .I92 in the bud square forfoldingpurposes. 7 r Rollers having a, design for cutting th'e'calyx H34 asshown in Figure 28 can'be formedsimilar to those previously described.'-

The calyx may or may not b ,used. If the calyx V is used a littleadhesive is applied thereto on each section and one section is placed onthe hood of the flower at the back with the corners even and the frontsection under the side of the petal evenly with the sharp point of thecalyx extending to and resting on th under side of the crease in thepetal.

In making the seed pod I96 shown in Figure 19, the rollers I98 and 200on shafts I91 and I99 are employed, the surfaces 202 of these rollersare shown in Figure 17 wherein knives 204 in the shape of the pod I95are formed thereon and concave cavities 206 are formed within theconfines of the knives 204. The grooves 201 formed in roller zoo co-actwith the knives 204, as previously described and color is placed in thecavities 206 for coloring the material. The material being used is thesame as shown in Figur 27, two sheets are used and cotton padding 205between the sheets form the pads; after they have been cut stitching 200may be applied as shown in Figure 19 to imitate the natural pod of thflower.

The beans may also be moulded by any conventional manner and using anysuitable substance or the beans may or may not be used.

After the beans or seed pods have been formed as previously described, asmall wire stem is attached to each pod and as many pads as desired maybe used in making the flower spray or the sprays may consist entirely ofbeans and the beans may be attached as desired.

The stamens 2Ill shown in Figure 29 are'made in any conventional mannerthe tiny stamen hood being made of any thin suitable fabric materialpreferably white and shaped in the form shown in Figure 29. The stamensare yellow and very small and should be made of any suitable substanceas is generally used to make stamens and a few of these stamens shouldbe inclosed within the little hood by placing the hood over and aroundthe stamens and securing or wrapping and uniform length.

the'low e'r part oft hefhoodto the stam ens in any convenient manner soas" to enclose the'stamens "or the stamens may be attached to the loweroutside front or throat of the tiny hood. After the stamens are made thetip ends of the front of each of their hoods may be dipped'or sprayedwith a solution of black paint to imitate thesta- ,mens of the realflowers. Rose stamens may be used instead of blue bonnet stamens ifdesired. :By taking one rose stamen and. bending the stem in the middleso as to bring'both hoods together then apiece of fine wire about oneinch long is bent at one end around the stamen so as to fasten the wireand stamen together securely as shown inFigure 29, or the flowers madewithout stamens if desired.

The blue bonnet stamen may be used instead uof the rose stamens: If theblue bonnet stamens are used one of the stamen is attached to a one inchstem of wire and one of thefolded hood square and the'h'ood square iswrapped on the wire stem inclosing the stamen and it is' then attachedto the flower. I The petals are always twisted at the sharp end 251'painte'd'portion has been twisted and the back or I plain part of thepetal has been reached this as f-stated makes each petal the exact sizeand as- ;or backend thereof until' all the blue col-or or sures theflower maker that allpetals are of even "The Irollersurf-a'ces zlzfond'214 in Figures 24 'and' 25Q lrave'h orizontal parallel knives 2I6 whichI are spaced indifferent widths to cut the strips 2 I 5 shown in'Figure26, .cavitie s 2I8 formed be- "tween'the knives colonthematerieu and thestrips are used to wind the stems and bind the flowers together.

Flowers vary in colors and the colors used to color the material usedwill vary according to the colors of the real flowers.

The natural color of blue bonnet flowers are ultramarine blue with redand white centers and purplish black petal markings. Some are light,medium and dark blue, and some of them are of the very lightest shade oflavender. Thus the colors used must vary accordingly. Therefore tourcutting knives and engravings must be provided and each one suppliedwith its own individual color or paint to correspond with the fourcolors mentioned above in order to achieve the desired result in gettingthe color of the blue bonnet flower petal and their hood squares tomatch; thus, there must be four petal knives and four hood knives tomatch. For variety the flowers and foliage may be made in any colordesired.

The color of blue bonnet flower leaves is dark apple green for thelargest sizes and light apple green for the small sizes. The beans, thecalyx and the strips used for wrapping the flowers are also dark applegreen. The color of the bud is light apple green.

The flowers when completed after being diestamped and cut out by themachine described are useful for trimming ladies hat-s, dress corsages,and boutonnieres and used with a buckram foundation can be used forcocar-des, quill-s and the like, pot plants, bouquets, patriotic funeraldesigns and floral offerings and for decorating halls, booths, livingrooms and automobiles. The designs may be used to decorate all kinds oftexltile fabric including dress goods, window curtain cloth, comfortcloth, bed spreads or woven counter panes in colors 'or all white andfor all kinds of upholstering cloth, carpets, art squares, linoleum andoil cloth and all kinds of fabric painting including handkerchiefs,pillow tops, art

lamp shades and the like, shelf paper, wall paper,

art calendars, post cards and fans, magazine covers and for decoratingservice trays, luncheon sets, plate 'favors for decorating chinacrockery and glass ware or for embroidery or used for any decorativepurpose. where any other decorations are used.

As previously described, the leaves'are formed of two' thicknesses ofmaterial and. each leaf "attached to a stem forming strand of wire inthe process of being made, however, the same prinother types of flowersmerely upon changing the design of the cutters involved and the flowersproduced thereby may be used for many and varied decorative uses.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

cutting, embossing and coloring a suitable material and at the same timeinserting a wire stem therein, the combination, which comprises, .a pairof parallel enacting rolls having cutting male and 30 In a plant formingmachine for simultaneously Fi'em-ale dies in the surfaces thereof,configurations or veins within said cutting dies for embossing saidmaterial with lifelike markings therein, a supporting frame in which therolls are mounted, resilient meansurging one roll toward the other,means adjusting the resilient means, the cutting elements of said diesdefining leaves, the said vfemale die having a stem receiving groovetherein, and said male die having a projection corresponding with thegroove of the female die whereby superposed layers of material having aWire positioned therebetween is fed to the dies, the wire is stamped inthe groove forming a stem, and a plurality of separated walled areaspositioned within the dies in which .coloring materials may bepositioned to color the sur-- faces of the leaves formed 'by the dies.

HARRIET E. ADAMS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Nwnb Name Date 677,821 Tily et a1 July 2, 1901680,533 Marinier et al Aug. 13, 1901 690,822 Avril V Jan. 7, 1902751,946 Schoening Feb. 9, 1904 795,359 Moore July 25, 1905 1,289,090,Beistle Dec. 31, 1918 1,642,782 Langston Sept. 20, 1927 2,306,414Tucker Dec. 29, 1942 Tucker Dec. 29, 1942

